Links back to John Wesley
Methodists in Mirfield can trace their roots straight back to John Wesley, the founder of the denomination.
In his Journal for Saturday, April 8, 1780 he wrote: "About noon I opened a new house at Mirfield". This was Knowl Chapel, which closed in 1965 and whose members joined those of Old Bank and Northorpe Methodist Churches to form St Andrew's.
Knowl had been enlarged in 1836 with a Sunday School added later - the building is still in use as a children's nursery.
St Andrew's was at first based in the existing Old Bank premises, but in November 1969 a brand new church was opened next door, with the old church becoming the Sunday School and general meeting hall.
The early Methodists in Mirfield did not have an easy time. Many of the first Methodists were said to be disillusioned Church of England parishioners who left the Parish Church after the appointment of a certain Matthew Cookson to take services there. He was said to be "a drunken and wicked spendthrift", according to Pobjoy's History of Mirfield, and after the opening of the new Methodist Church he is said to have ridden over and broken off the tops of the gate posts with a hammer.
Trinity - a history dating back to 1835
The first Trinity church opened in 1835 and struggled for a time until in 1861 Mr Marmaduke Fox of Marmaville in Church Lane, Mirfield, offered to pay for a minister to live in Mirfield. The church grew and eventually the Trinity church we know today was opened on March 28, 1878. It cost £4,701 with Marmaduke Fox again being the main subscriber.
The church was substantially modernised and renovated a few years ago, with the addition of a lift for disabled access to the church and a state-of-the art kitchen downstairs, where there is also a nursery facility and large meeting room.
The church was substantially modernised and renovated a few years ago, with the addition of a lift for disabled access to the church and a state-of-the art kitchen downstairs, where there is also a nursery facility and large meeting room.